Rise Against September 15, 2007

Chicago's Rise Against features former members of the late great 88 Fingers Louie. This four-piece punk unit plays a punchy brand of melodic hardcore heavily influenced by bands like Bad Religion, Minor Threat and Bad Brains. This band is a potent mix of youth crew style, metal edge, melodic energy and hardcore pride. Their message, though stated a thousand times before, comes off as neither cheesy nor insincere. Lagwagon is one of those bands that doesn't fit easily into any one musical category, especially when you bear in mind the fact that the band doesn't consider itself to be a punk band. What is true is that Lagwagon blends a number of musical styles together, mainly drawing influences from the worlds of rock, pop and punk. Silverstein was formed in early 2000 in Ontario, Canada and acquired it's name after the famous children's author by the same name. The band thrived to tear down the boundaries between hardcore, emo and punk and with the addition of guitarist Neil Boshart, after founding guitarist Richard McWalter left the band, a myriad of new influences and ideas came in which is believed to have solidified and enhanced the band's developing trademark sound. Strung Out is a popular melodic punk band that plays in venues across the United States.